Lehighton Finally Sets Building Fees

Lehighton Council, after two years of debate and the dismissal of a building inspector, has settled on a schedule for building fees.

"This has been a long time coming," council President Lee Getz said at last night's meeting. "Now we have something we can work with."

Getz said he, like other council members, wants a nominal fee to cover costs. Council suggested one minor change to the fees. It plans to give the fees final approval at its meeting April 26.

Here's how the new fees, drafted by councilmen Wayne and Grant Hunsicker and Borough Manager John Hanosek Jr., will work:

*People with new construction will be charged on how large the building is. Permits will cost $20 per square feet of floor space multiplied by half of 1 percent plus a $10 base fee. For example, a 12-foot by 20-foot addition will cost $22.

*Permits for interior and exterior renovations will be charged on the cost of the improvement multiplied by half of 1 percent. There is a $10 base fee. For example, a permit for a $3,000 improvement will cost $25.

*Permits for curbing and sidewalk will cost $10 for as much as 75 feet. Sidewalks longer than 75 feet cost an additional 10 cents a foot. There is a $10 base fee.

People applying for the permits must pay for consultants who give engineering options.

All the fees will go to Lehighton while Hanosek serves as building inspector. If council names another inspector, he will receive half the fees and the $10 base charge except for sidewalk permits.

The current fee schedule calls for people to pay $5 for the first $1,000 in construction costs and $2 for every additional $1,000.

The fee schedule puts to rest years of controversy.

Former inspector Peter Kropf Jr. had said Lehighton was losing money on its fees. He had proposed fees of $75 for new construction and $30 for renovation and $25 for sidewalks.

The Hunsickers objected, saying the fees were too expensive. At one point, they suggested abolishing the fees. The disagreement led council not to reappoint Kropf at the start of this year.

In other business, council approved a revised draft of an agreement calling for Lehighton to jointly build a new sewage treatment plant with neighboring Weissport, Franklin Township and Mahoning Township.

Officials are hopeful the consent order, drafted by the state Department of Environmental Resources, could end decades of disagreements between the municipalities and eventually spur development. DER banned construction in all of Lehighton and Weissport and portions of the township because Lehighton's treatment plant takes in more water and waste than it can treat.

Council also reviewed a $125,862 Community Development Block Grant. Lehighton is prepared to spend most of the grant on improvements to the community swimming pool. Phyllis Bolton from the Carbon County Office of Planning and Development said she will attend council's April 26 meeting to finalize the grant.